G'day there DAVID F...

Yes indeed HOOVER certainly was a mixed bag as you quite correctly stated. I've read a bit about him and his activities, and it's very true he liked to gather dirt on anyone he thought he could control, and use it as 'unofficial' leverage in order to get his way. By the way, many thanks for that extract on HOOVER.

I must confess, he's not 'Robinson Caruso' in his quest to vocationally blackmail, those either within his organisation, or outside his direct span of control. Still, I don't believe this is the place or venue to ventilate these allegations ?

That old maxim still rules supreme:- police 'know' something; but they can't 'prove' it, to the satisfaction of a court of law ?

Please DAVID F., I'm not whinging, OK ? But, before I die, there's a VIP here in NSW who deserves to be in prison for a long time ? He's either too smart, too well protected or whatever, but he's a real bastard with a capital 'B' ! The 'old maxim' still remains ?

I've always believed if you can't nail a bloke with the enormous powers and wherewithal that are 'officially' conferred and endowed on police legitimately, then get out of the job !

A lot has been said herein on 'deterrence' ? All the crooks that I've had direct involvement (as 'case officer'), I can't recall a single one of 'em, after being arrested, ever speak or lament on the real prospect of now confronting a substantial 'lagging' for their crime ?

The only comments they generally make, is some vain hope of firstly getting bail, "...will you oppose it boss..." ? in order they may well 'fail to answer', and later, a 'soft' trial judge/justice ?

Few of them ever concern themselves with the prospect of facing inordinately long periods of imprisonment. It's just an occupational hazard, nothing more !

Still that said, I've never had to deal with a crook, who's had the spectre of a death sentence hovering about his head either ?

So now you’re engaging in hysterics, runner?

<<Oh AJ its just my imagination that I used to leave my home and car unlocked and never got broken into.>>

No, you had the illusion of being able to do such things more safely because there wasn’t a 24-hour news cycle reminding you of how scary the world was and crimes weren't reported as often in the 'good ol' days'. Furthermore, news outlets hadn’t yet caught on to the fact that audiences are won by focussing on street crime - violent crimes in particular. We all love to shake our heads in disgust at what the world is apparently coming to. Every generation has. It’s a perverse little fascination of humans.

<<Its just my imagination that teachers in all my time at school never got bashed.>>

Assault is the one form of crime that actually has been on the rise over the last few decades.

<<Its just my imagination that suicide happens among the youth in my community weekly when it rarely occured before.>>

This is irrelevant. Suicide is no longer a crime in Australia and never should have been. Either way, suicide and criminal activity are two very different kinds of responses to similar social factors, so including it to support your overarching assumption is pointless.

<<just ask any scientist who has tried a little honesty when exposing the gw fraud.

Who is an example here and what was their evidence of fraud?

Dear o sung wu,

I have the idea that police power is very limited in one respect. If you can catch a criminal in the process of committing an illegal act there's no question that you can bring him or her in.

I don't doubt that the VIP in NSW you mentioned is a real nogoodnik, but unless someone in authority orders you to get the evidence to establish that, you are powerless to do anything. You cannot subpoena bank statements on your own or do anything else to get the goods unless you are authorised to do so.

I think the Gulf War was one we were lied into and the Bushes, Blair and Howard all lied us into a destructive and expensive war. Bush 2 lied about Hussein's connection with Al Qaeda, Hussein's purchase of yellowcake and

hadn't finished...

and his possession of WMD. Blair lied about WMD going off in 45 minutes after an attack. Howard lied about the presence of the presence of SAS in Iraq two months before the attack. Getting one's country into an aggressive war was one of the charges against the Nazis at Nuremberg. They could be charged because they were the losers.

I doubt that the VIP in NSW did anything as bad as the Bushes, Blair and Howard did, but they can't be brought to justice.

Hi (again) DAVID F...

Unfortunately, this particular individual wields enormous power and influence, and could have me squashed in a heartbeat. Some years ago, they came a bit closer to nailing him, however the witness concerned, a decent, honest man apparently in hindsight reasoned perhaps he was mistaken, and he had erred in his original recollection of the events that made up his original evidence ?

I would think this fellow is now probably retired, and wouldn't dare to put his head above the 'parapet' again, for all the tea in china ? The crime is not one of dishonesty, or corruption whilst in office, but one of immense moral turpitude, but because of who this fellow is, he's virtually untouchable ! He poses no 'physical' threat to anyone, but he has the ability to extirpate a persons good fame and character, in the blink of an eye.

I understand exactly what you've alluded to David, with Messrs BUSH'S I & II, BLAIR and HOWARD, and I certainly wouldn't suggest this fellow's crime(s) approaches anywhere near the same dimensions of that particular group ? Nevertheless, the victims were certainly as helpless, innocent and vulnerable as any other group you'd care to cite ? And he's seemingly got clean away with it. It's left many of us and the victims, chewing feathers I can tell you ?

Foxy,

I read the link to the Jakarta Post with interest and it provides not a shred of evidence that the death penalty is not a deterrent.
There can be no possible way that the number of people deterred can be gauged, but both Suse and I are in agreement that it is a deterrent and I freely admit that it deters me, as do most other penalties at law.

Penalties are deterrents, you haven't told us yet if the death penalty would deter you.

On the link that you gave there is a piece about what Indonesians think of Australia and Australians, particularly our politicians.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/05/australia-lacks-cultural-competence-understand-ri.html